1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a downhole tool. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a weight setting indicator for a downhole tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common to employ more than one string of casing in a wellbore. In this respect, a first string of casing is set in the wellbore when the well is drilled to a first designated depth. The first string of casing is hung from the surface, and then cement is circulated into the annulus behind the casing. The well is then drilled to a second designated depth, and a second string of casing, or liner, is run into the well. The second string is set at a depth, such that the upper portion of the second string of casing overlaps with the lower portion of the upper string of casing. The second “liner” string is then fixed or “hung” off of the inner surface of the upper string of casing. Afterwards, the liner string is also cemented. This process is typically repeated with additional liner strings until the well has been drilled to total depth. In this manner, wells are typically formed with two or more strings of casing of an ever-decreasing diameter.
The process of hanging a liner off of a string of surface casing or other upper casing string involves the use of a liner hanger. The traditional liner hanger uses surface weight to set a liner top packer. This downward movement typically seals the packer's element and/or seal mechanism. Liner top packers are typically located thousands of feet downhole below the surface in the wellbore. In many cases the wellbore has a vertical section and a horizontal section. The liner top packer may be located in the horizontal section of the wellbore, and thus the liner top packer may have a horizontal position. The horizontal position of the liner top packer can result in a corkscrewing effect, called “slack off” on the drill pipe and the running string of the drill pipe. Due to “slack off” the downhole packer may or may not actually be seeing the same amount of weight downhole as being applied at the surface. There is a need for a downhole packer weight indicator to verify that the desired packer setting weight was applied to the packer